Each day you hand out your business card is another day that you are marketing your business. Custom printed business cards—in all shapes, colors, and sizes—are everywhere. And yet, while we all understand that a business card is a necessity, we often fail to see it as a marketing opportunity.

It’s time to start viewing that little slip of paper for what it is: the best opportunity you have to market yourself or your business to a targeted and captive audience. After all, you chose to hand it to that person for a reason.

Here are seven ways to transform your business card so that it collects sales, rather than dust:

Give your card a purpose – Make your business card useful as more than its original purpose. Design it to be a bookmark, sticker, or note card where they can write something they need to remember. Make sure your card can be used in more ways than one; otherwise, you risk the recipient looking at it once and either losing it or throwing it away.

1. Track it! – You can add a QR code to your custom printed business cards to see how many conversions you receive via the scanned QR code.
2. Create something memorable – When designing your business card, create a simple yet memorable design that captures you and your business.
3. Add credibility with testimonials – Testimonials are a great addition to any business card; these let potential customers relate to other customers.
4. Put a face to the name – By adding a photo of yourself to the card, this helps people continually put a face to the name long after they met you.
5. Support a cause – Let potential clients or customers know about the causes that drive you. Social impact and business go hand-in-hand, after all.
6. Keep it simple – Last but not least, make sure your business card is simple and easily readable. The primary reason for creating business cards is to get prospects to contact you. Make sure to include the following:
   • Name
   • Title
   • Business name
   • Email address
   • Phone number
   • Website URL